What's this about?
Anil Dash argues a handful of venture firms grew so large they stopped being exposed to their own investments' outcomes, stopped legally being venture capital firms, and now function as a political machine — capital allocation as ideology enforcement.
What exactly changed legally?
Traditional VC funds are constrained vehicles that live and die by fund returns. The giants restructured (registered investment advisors, permanent capital) so they can hold anything forever — power without the discipline of the fund cycle.
Why is this worth noting?
HN 179 points. Whatever you think of the thesis, the underlying facts — the restructurings, the political spending — are checkable, and the piece names a shift much of the industry discusses privately: the biggest "VCs" are now something else.